RAUTAHAT, March 28: With the May 14 local elections on the horizon, local leaders of the major political parties in Rautahat are in a tough competition to get candidacy for the upcoming polls.
Even as the Madhes-centric parties continue to warn to oppose the polls, leaders and cadres of the major parties are staking their claims on the candidacy for various posts in the rural municipalities and municipalities. They have started mounting pressure on their central level leaders to field them as candidates for the elections.
Local leaders lobbying for poll candidacy
According to Ashok Jaiswal, representative as well as politburo member of the ruling CPN (Maoist Centre), these days hopeful local leaders have been pressurizing him to recommend their names as the party's candidates for the upcoming elections.
Bansidhar Mishra, representative as well as politburo member of the main opposition CPN-UML informed Republica that the party has already started discussions to choose qualified and capable candidates for various posts. According to him, locals have been really optimistic about the elections as they were the ones who suffered the most for such a long time in the absence of local level representatives.
He even urged the government to address the demands of the Madhes-based parties to ensure the elections. Suppressing all the bitter feelings, cadres and members of various parties have been requesting the government to fulfill the demands of the agitating parties not because they agree with their terms but because they want the elections to happen at any cost.
Protests and demonstrations staged by the Madhes-centric parties have received negative as well positive response from the people. As the date for the local election is approaching, candidates have started promotion campaigns to lure the voters. They have been staking their claims over the candidacy for various posts. They are even pressurizing the influential leaders of their parties to pick them for those posts.
It has been found that members of some Madhes-centric parties have been switching to other bigger parties to win the elections. As per the speculation of some intellectuals, the Madhes-based parties have already made a strategy to make candidates of their favor win though they have been denying it in public. Nominating their candidates for the upcoming elections is going to be a daunting task for the parties as the number of aspirants is very high, according to local leaders.
